Microsoft announced last week that in February. 2023 a future Microsoft Edge update will permanently disable the Internet Explorer 11 desktop web browser on some Windows 10 systems.
115 June 22was the day Internet Explorer reached its end of support, and the company told customers that the legacy web browser would get disabled via a Windows update.
“The out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) desktop application is scheduled to be permanently disabled on certain versions of Windows 10 devices on February 14, 2023, through a Microsoft Edge update, not a Windows update as previously communicated,” Redmond said on Friday.
“All remaining devices that have not already been redirected from IE11 to Microsoft Edge are scheduled to be redirected with the Microsoft Edge update scheduled for February 14, 2023.”
Enterprise admins should to transition from IE11 to Microsoft Edge with IE mode and remove IE visual references from the Start Menu and the Windows taskbar with the Disable IE policy before February 14 to avoid “business disruption at scale when users lose access to IE11-dependent applications.”
Next year’s May non-security preview release and the June Windows monthly security update are designed to remove those in environments where admins do not act before IE11 gets permanently disabled.
Internet Explorer will redirect users to the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge when launching the Internet Explorer 11 desktop applications. During the process, users’ data (including settings, passwords, and favorites) will be imported into Microsoft Edge to make the switch easier.
Since October 2020, IE11 has automatically launchrd Microsoft Edge when visiting incompatible sites. The list of incompatible sites (managed by Microsoft) contains 7,562 domains, a long list of high-profile online platforms and services, including Facebook, Instagram, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Twitter, and many others.
Internet Explorer around for some time yet
Although officially retired from multiple Windows 10 versions on the semi-annual channel (SAC) servicing channel and not shipping with Windows 11, IE11 will still be available on Windows 7 ESU, Windows 8.1, and versions of Windows 10 LTSC client, IoT, and Server. The web browser will continue to receive technical support and security updates on systems that run these Windows versions for the lifecycle of the Windows version.
You can switch to Microsoft Edge with IE mode which enables backward compatibility and will be supported through at least 2029. To enable IE mode in Microsoft Edge, go to edge://settings/defaultbrowser, toggle on the ‘Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer‘ option, and restart the browser.
Microsoft also discontinued IE support in Teams in November 2020 and also ended support across Microsoft 365 apps and services in August 2021. Other Microsoft services and apps have also ended support for Internet Explorer during the last few years.